Improvement in automatic rakes for harvesters



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level of the cutting apparatus.

VVILLIAll/I N. VHITELEY, JB., OF SPRINGFIELD, OHIO.

IMPROVEMENT lN AUTOMATICv RA KES FOR HARVESTERS.

Specitication forming part of Letters Patent N0. 49,669,

dated August 29, 1865.

To all whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that I ,WILLIAM N. WHrrELnY, Jr., of Springfield, in thecounty of Clarke and State of Ohio, have invented a new and ImprovedAutomatic Rake for chiues; and I do hereby declare the following to be afull, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had tothe accompanyin which- Figure 1 is a perspective view of a reapingmachine with my invention attached. Fig. 2- is a rear elevation of myimprovement. Fig. 3 is a vertical longitudinal section of the head ofthe reel-shaft. Fig. 4 is a bottom plan of the mechanism of the machine.

My invention belongs to that class of overhung reels which have a singleinclined shaft and a stationary camway to guide the wings of the reeisin their'revolution, and it consists, mainly, in so constructing theparts composing said reel as to allow one of the wings of the same to beraised and lowered in its orbit so as to sweep near to or far from theplatform at pleasure; also, in the manner of bracing and supporting thebearings of the reel-shaft, in the manner of raising and lowering therake, and in the manner ot' holding the rake to the platform whileremoving the gavel therefrom.

That others may understand the construction and operation of myinvention, I will describe it particularly.

A is the platform of the machine, for a detailed description of which,exclusive of the reel and rake, reference is made to the specilicationin my application for Letters Patent (division A) tiled at even dateherewith.

B is the inner shoe of the cutting apparatus, to the under side of whichis firmly secured the arm O, a few inches of the lower end of which isso bent as to lie in contact with the under side ofthe shoe, asaforesaid, while the arm itself projects laterally from the shoe in aline with the sickle-bar, but inclined upward at an angle of aboutforty-five degrees to the Around the curved inner edge of the platformis erected a stout metallic flange or side board, D, which is firmlysecured to the platform and inner shoe, B. To this flange D the braces Eand F are bolted, one at either end.

nects the frame G to the arm C, thus increasing the stiffness andstrength of the whole. The frame G consists in a central disk withradial arms g g g g projecting from its edge.

Harvesting-Ma- In the center of the said disl; is a suitable aperturefor a bearing for the upper end of the reel-shaft l, which has its lowerbearing at the upper end of the arm O, Figs. l and 2.

At the head or upper end ot' the reel-shaft I is the dish J, which hasupon its upper side two sets of vertical parallel anges or plates, K K,each plate being semi-elliptical in form, the straight side of eachbeing upon the surface of the disk J. The 'plates ot' each'set,respectively, are a few inches asunder, just far enough to accommodatethe thickness of the reel and rake staves between them. The two sets areplaced at right anglesto each other, and thus when the staves M of thereel-wings andthe rake are insertedin their proper places and secured bythe pivot-bolts L they project radially from the head J, and may moveverticallyou their pivots L and between the plates K K. For convenientremoval the head J is secured to the top of the reel-shaft I by a pin orkey, N, driven through tooth-shaft I and flanges K K (See Fig. 3.)

rlhat wing ot' the reel which serves also as a rakehas a somewhat longerstati' than the other wings, so that it sweeps nearer the platform thanthey do. While thewings of the reel pass some distance above theplatform, as O in Fig. 2, the rake-wing l?, Fig. 1, with its rake-teeth,sweeps in aetualcontactwith theplatform. The wings of the reel and therake are not rigidly attached to their staves, but are pivoted to themby a screw, and may be moved nearer to or farther from the end atpleasure, (see Q,Fig. 3,) and au adjustment that secures parallelismbetween the edges of the wings and the platform is secured to the linkIt, with its slotted end and set-screw.

If the wings of the reel rotated in a plane at l right-angles to theaxis of the reel-shaft, so

They project upward and inward at about the same angle as the arm C.

To the upper ends of the braces E and F the frame Gis secured. Anotherbrace, II, conmuch space would be occupied in their revolution as torender them very inconvenient and objectionable. The cam rail S istherefore placed upon the upturned ends of the arms g.

This cam-rail is so depressed on the side which is lowest or toward theplatform and is so shaped that as the staft'of thereel or rake passesover that part of it it is brought near to the platform and is caused tosweep in a line parallel to the platform. As the reel or rake leavesattendant.

l stion between the reel-shaft and pulley X and the platform the camsuddenly rises, and during that part of the orbit which is opposite tothe platform they are nearly vertical, and sweep through the air abovethe head of the driver or Having described the construction ofmyinvention, its operation will be readily understood. When the machineis in motion the reel-shaft I is caused to revolve by the belt over thepulleys X and X'. The reel-wings and the rake-win g necessarily revolveaboutthe axis of I when motion is communicated thereto, but the orbitthrough which they travel is described on a warped plane, and is notthrough any considerable portion of it at right angles to the axis ofthe reel-shaft. The eccentricityof the orbit is such that when the wingsare sweep- In order to keep the staves of the reel-wings always in contact with the cam-rail the springs T T are placed on the under sides ofsaid staves, theirlower or free en ds pressing upon the lower edge ofthe cam-rail, which is there rounded and smooth, thus embracing the saidrail between the spring and staff and holding them securely in contact.This arrangement, however, is not so applicable to the rake-wing, for Ait is necessary that the rake be allowed sometimes to rise from thecam-rail during that part of its revolution which is over theplatform,as the grain will sometimes be very thin, andnot enough becollected during one revolution of the reel to form a sufficient gavel.The attendant will then wish to ralse the rake so that it platform. Whenthe grain is very thin the time ot' two or three revolutions of the reeland l rake may be required to accumulateasuticient quantity upon theplatform. In that case the attendant will, by means of the lever Z andplate W, cause the rake to sweep over the platform as far removed fromit as are the reelwings, because the plate W, being raised up, receivesthe rod V, with its wheel, upon its upper surface before the staff ofthe rake will have reached the -lowest point on the cam-rail,

high as required. y

and as the plateW has a'plane surface the That the attendant may beenabled thus to raise the rake whenever he desires to do so, the pendentrod V and plate W, with its lever L, are provided. The pendent rod V(see Fig. 3)

the lowest part of its revolution. is pivoted to the lower side of therake-staff,

` Having described my invention, whatI claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, 1s-

l. The plate W and lever Z, oran equivalent device, for raisingtherakeaway from the platform, without affecting the height of the wings of thereel, to prevent the removal ofthe gavel, when desired.

2. The combination ot' arrangement of the reel-shaft I, plate W, flangesK K, and cam rail S for the purposes of revolving, guiding, andcontrollingthe action of the combined rake and reel, substantially asset forth and described.

3. In combination with the staves ot an upright revolvingreel,substantially as described, the spring U, or its equivalent, `toholdsaid staves in contact with the cam rail or guide without causingsaid contact to be rigid and inflexible, substantially as described.

4. Connecting and sustaining the rake and reel upon the platform A bymeans of the arm C and the braces E, F, and H, substantially asdescribed.

5. In combination with the rake-staftM, the pendent rod V, substantiallyas and forthepurpose set forth. l

In combination with the pulley X, the the main axle and pulleyX, inconsequence of guide-pulley a and pin I1, for the purpose setundulations of the ground, shall not affect the forth.

When the rake is sweeping over the lower part of the cam-rail S and overthe platform the rod V projects below the plate J farther than at anyother time, and it is evident that if now the plate W, Figs. l, 2, and3, be brought up close to the under side of the plate J, the rod V, withits small roller, will rest upon it and be pushed up by it, causing therake to rise from the platform. (See Fig. 3 and the red of theattendants hand.

- The reel and rake are driven by a belt passing over a pulley, X, onthe reel-shaft, and thence over vthe pulley X on the main axle. (SeeFig. 4.) That a change of respective poproper operation of the beltwhich drives the v l WM. N. WHITELEY, JR. reel, the adjustableguide-pulley a is attached Witnesses: to the arm G and the guide-pin bis inserted E. OROSSLAND,

through the case near the clutch-rod d. GEO. ARTHUR.

